FIF - WB WiB Phase II - NLBP II

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Overview

A senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 1 million (the "WiB Loan") to be provided in one single tranche under the Western Balkans Women in Business Programme Phase II ("WB WiBP II").

The proceeds will be used to finance eligible women-led SMEs in Montenegro in accordance with the WB WIBP II Policy Statement.

Project ID 53713

Status Disbursing

Location

Montenegro

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Company Contact Information

Marija Kovacevic
marija.kovacevic@nlb.me
+382 20 402 225
+382 20 402 061
www.nlb.me
Stanka Dragojevića 46 81000 Podgorica Montenegro

Project ID 53713

Status Disbursing

Location

Montenegro

Business Sector

Financial Institutions

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

13 Dec 2022

Disclosure date

09 Dec 2022

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

FIF - WB WiB Phase II - NLBP II (Montenegrin) (PDF, 0.63MB)

Project description

A senior unsecured loan of up to EUR 1 million (the "WiB Loan") to be provided in one single tranche under the Western Balkans Women in Business Programme Phase II ("WB WiBP II").

The proceeds will be used to finance eligible women-led SMEs in Montenegro in accordance with the WB WIBP II Policy Statement.

Project objectives

The project aims to promote women entrepreneurship and more broadly women's participation in business, by enhancing access to finance and knowledge to women-led businesses in Montenegro. This will be NLBP's second facility under this product, marking EBRD's continued support to women-led SMEs in Montenegro.

Transition impact

ETI Score:68

ject contributes to the objectives of the WB WiBP II, supporting the Transition Impact qualities of Inclusive and Competitive.

WBWiB PhaseII seeks to (i) increase availability of financing for women-led SMEs and (ii) contribute to the competitiveness of financial institutions by enabling innovation in strategy, products, processes and marketing related to women-led SME lending.

NLBP has already fully utilised a senior loan under the WB WiB Programme II (EUR 2 million under OpID 51231 signed in February 2020). The new WiB Loan is required to top-up the existing WiB loan to continue to NLBP's pilot lending project to tap into women-led SMEs segment in Montenegro under the EBRD programme.

Inclusive: The project will contribute to women's economic inclusion by supporting women-led SMEs' access to finance and business advisory services, while demonstrating the business case for scaling-up lending to the women-led SME segment.

Competitive: Transition impact is expected to derive from market expansion in line with EBRD Financial Intermediaries Framework.

Client information

NLB BANKA AD PODGORICA

NLB banka AD Podgorica (NLBP) is the second largest universal bank in Montenegro with total assets of EUR 772 mln as of 1H 2022 (market share of 14.1%) owned by NLB dd Ljubljana. In November 2021, NLBP completed the process of merging with Komercijalna banka Podgorica (KBP).

EBRD Finance Summary

EUR 1,000,000.00

Total project cost

EUR 1,000,000.00

Additionality

Additionality is achieved by combining the necessary long-term financing, in the form of a senior loan, through a holistic approach which includes technical cooperation grants to support the capacity building of partner financial institutions and women-led businesses.

Environmental & Social Summary

Categorised FI (2019 ESP). NLBP will be required to implement the Environmental and Social Risk Management Procedures for Micro, SME and Corporate Lending; comply with the EBRD's Performance Requirements (PRs) 2, 4 and 9 including adherence to the expanded EBRD E&S Exclusion List and Referral List introduced with ESP 2019 and submit Annual E&S Reports to the Bank. All sub-loans will be required to comply with national environmental, health, safety and labour (EHSL) requirements. Investments into renewable energy will be required to following the appropriate EBRD Guidelines on renewables. Additionally, should the use of proceeds from EBRD investment be allocated to future solar sub-projects, the project will need to comply with the EBRD Solar Supply Chain Risk Management Approach.

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

FI TC: Up to EUR 2 million at the Programme level for beneficiaries under WB WiBP II, focusing on capacity building, product development, marketing and outreach support. TC funds are provided by the Governments of Sweden.

Advice for Small Business TC: Up to EUR 3.5 million at the Programme level to support women-led SMEs (including advisory services, training, mentoring and network opportunities).

Non-TC: Risk sharing in the form of First Loss Risk Cover ("FLRC") of up to 10% of the Loan (EUR 100,000), with a cap of 70% for any single sub-loan. Non-TC funds for FLRC are provided by the EBRD SSF.

Company Contact Information

Marija Kovacevic
marija.kovacevic@nlb.me
+382 20 402 225
+382 20 402 061
www.nlb.me
Stanka Dragojevića 46 81000 Podgorica Montenegro

PSD last updated

09 Dec 2022

Understanding transition

Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For business opportunities with the EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:

Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:

Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

The ESP and its associated Environmental and Social Requirements (ESRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the ESRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation, and to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about the environmental and social (E&S) performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD also requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts of projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.

More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.

Integrity and compliance

The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all of the Bank's activities in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The EBRD believes that identifying and resolving issues in the project assessment and approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts andhelps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.

OCCO is further responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, either within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. OCCO will follow-up all matters reported. It will review all matters reported. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

The AIP, which entered into force on 1 January 2025, sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.

Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD enquiries form.

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)

If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (for example, through the client’s project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).

IPAM independently reviews project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the mechanism is: to support dialogue between project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or the project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.

Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate and how to submit a Request for review. Alternatively, contact IPAM by email at ipam@ebrd.com for guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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FIF - WB WiB Phase II - NLBP II

Overview

Project timeline

Company Contact Information

Project description

Project objectives

Transition impact

Client information

EBRD Finance Summary

Total project cost

Additionality

Environmental & Social Summary

Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing

Company Contact Information

PSD last updated

Understanding transition

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)

Integrity and compliance

Access to Information Policy (AIP)

Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)